Recipes by

Ingredients by

Baked Apple Meringues with Orange-soaked Raisins

This is the perfect dessert for someone watching their waistline. I'm quite proud of the fact this tastes so sublime without any fat or sugar, but, depending on you and what you're trying to cut down on, you could use sugar instead of sweetener.

Method

First mix the raisins and the orange zest and juice in a bowl and then leave them to soak for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, using a sharp knife, cut each apple in half horizontally, arrange the halves on the baking tray and pop them on to the centre shelf of the oven for 30 minutes. After that, slide the shelf half out, spoon the soaked raisins over each apple half and bake for another 15 minutes.

Towards the end of that time, place the egg whites into a grease-free bow and, using an electric hand whisk, whisk them until they form soft peaks that just tip over when you lift the whisk. Then whisk in, bit by bit, all but a teaspoon of the sweetener.

Now pile up the fluffy egg white on top of each baked apple, sprinkle with the remaining sweetener, and return them to the oven for another 10-15 minutes, until the egg white has just set and is tinged golden brown.

Once you know how, meringues are the easiest thing to make and can be used in recipes from Eton mess to petits monts blancs and pavlova. They're also a great way to use up leftover egg whites from other recipes...